Fears and Friendships
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Ben's fine spirit gets crushed and its up to some old and new friends to cheer him up.


Ben Tennyson was having a tough day after a hard mission. He and Rook decided to unwind at Mr. Baumann's store...against Ben's will.

"I don't think we should eat here, Rook." Ben said, taking his seat.

"Why not?" asked Rook. "You have eaten here with me before."

"That's because he'll just ruin my shop." grumbled a senile old voice. Ben frowned as Mr. Baumann came to the counter. "He'll just ruin everything like he always does."

Ben's frown grew. "It's not my fault you're danger-prone, Mr. Baumann."

" _I'm_ danger-prone?!" Mr. Baumann exclaimed. "That's the pot calling the kettle black! Cause you're the one that always causes trouble. All you ever do is make trouble for everyone."

Ben stood up, beyond angry. "That's it! I'm out of here-" But as he turned, Ben tripped on his shoelaces and fell down, knocking over a pile of cans.

Now Mr. Baumann's blood was boiling. "TENNYSON!"

"He did not mean it, Mr. Baumann!" Rook defended. "It was a mistake!"

"NO! This is just like I said, that boy is a menace to society! He's a walking disaster and that's all he's gonna be!" The angry man glared down on Ben. "The real mistake here is Azmuth letting you keep that Omnitrix! You don't deserve it and you never will!"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" Ben got up and with all his fury, pushed Mr. Baumann and knocked him down.

"Why do I even bother saving this town anyway?!" Ben yelled. He slammed on the Omnitrix and turned into Astrodactyl. He hovered off the ground and rocketed through the roof, sending a powerful blast of green propulsion that knocked Rook and Mr. Baumann off their feet and into more of his merchandise.

Rook groaned as he was the first to recover. He looked at the hole in the ceiling, worried about Ben.

Ever since that argument, Ben never left his house for the past week. He never spoke to anyone or even went out on missions. He became a complete hermit.

At the Grant Mansion, Rook, Rachel, Sasha were having a group meeting in the kitchen over some lemonade.

"Poor Ben." Rook moped. "We all tried talking to him, but he still won't leave his house! Mr. Baumann must have really hurt Ben with what he said."

"What should we do?" Sasha said. "We can't just let him be all sad and angry! We gotta cheer him up!"

"Ben's a very good friend of ours." Rachel explained. "We've got to get him out of that house. But how?"

"Hmm..." Sasha thought and thought until she got an idea. "I know! We'll scare him out!"

* * *

That night, Ben was all ready for bed. He looked at his desk where he put the Omnitrix, he decided to let it go. It was filled with unheard messages and purposely missed calls. Scowling, Ben tucked himself into bed and closed his eyes.

And just when he fell fast asleep, Ben heard a scratching noise, waking him up.

"What was that?" Ben looked around, he heard the scratching again. It came from under his bed.

Ben leaned over to the side of his bed and looked under it.

From out of the darkness, several yellow, gleaming eyes popped out at him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Ben screamed, tumbling out of bed. He watched in horror as a hairy, horned monster shambled out from under the bed. It observed Ben, and a wide, toothy grin cut across its face

The creature licked its thick lips, baring its pointy teeth.

Ben was stricken with absolute terror. He got up and tried to run, but it was hard with his legs shaking so badly. Stumbling down the hallway, he hid into a closet and closed the door, hoping the horrific monster won't find him.

"I hope I'm having a nightmare!" Ben told himself. "No creature could look that scary in real life!"

"Oh, I don't see anything wrong with that."

Ben froze, then turned around to see a cackling skeleton behind him. Ben's hair stood on end. He let out another scream of fright as he burst out of the closet. The monster came out of Ben's room and the skeleton emerged as well. They grinned evilly as they seemed to enjoy seeing Ben scared out of his wits.

Ben's heart practically stopped beating. This gruesome twosome were worse than clowns, worse than peacocks! It was the most hair raising experience of Ben's life!

Too much for him to handle, Ben became lightheaded and blacked out.

* * *

"Ben! Are you alright?! Ben!"

Ben felt groggy as he heard a kind voice call to him. Ben's eyes flew open. A wide-eyed Rachel and Rook looked down at him.

Sasha popped out from behind Rachel looking concerned. "Are you okay, Ben?"

A bit woozy, Ben looked around and found himself in the Grant Mansion. "W-What happened?"

Rachel looked at his bare wrist. "Where's the Omnitrix?"

"I gave it up." Ben sulked. "I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do." Rook put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Ben, Mr. Baumann was wrong about you. You have truly put the Omnitrix to good use."

Ben frowned deeper. "Just face it, I always cause trouble because I have the Omnitrix. And I always mess things up. Like the time I let Vilgax get away when Attea and her hired bounty hunters attacked, getting too close to Fistrick and his gang, the people of Anur Transyl turning against me, the Incurseans taking over Earth, and those are just a few on the list!"

Everyone could feel the pain in Ben's words.

"It's the truth, I'm the worst hero ever." Ben's voice started to shake. "Besides, the Omnitrix was never meant for me anyway. I got it by mistake. Everything about me is a mistake." He felt tears start to build up in his eyes.

"Ben, everyone makes mistakes." Rachel told him. "And nobody's perfect, we all have our flaws. But that doesn't mean we should be hard on ourselves."

"Because making mistakes is how we learn and grow as people." said Rook. "Even I learn from my mistakes too."

"No you don't." Ben said. "You're a natural born hero, Rook. You never make mistakes. You always know what to do and how to handle things better than I do. I wish I was like you."

Rook glowered at his friend. "You don't wanna be like me."

Ben turned to the Revonnahgander in shock. Rook used a contraction, something that was considered a great offense in his culture.

Sadness came across Rook's face. "You must think I'm lucky, Ben. Having to be professional and perform perfectly like some kind of wind up doll. If it weren't for you, I never would have learned to enjoy life or have fun. You should be lucky that you have your own free will."

"Ben, you're a truly wonderful person who's helped so many lives. And everyone loves you that way." Rachel said.

"Especially the people who truly matter, they know how special you are." Sasha noted.

Ben looked around at his friends, letting their warm, kind words sink into him.

The door suddenly opened. Ben gasped and as he saw the skeleton man and the demonic monster!

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Ben wailed in terror and tried to find a place to hide but there weren't any, he curled up with his hands over his head and began to quiver.

Ben heard a giggle and flinched when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Ben, it's okay. These monsters are with us." Rachel said.

Ben uncurled himself, looking at the girls in great disbelief. "S-So, that wasn't a nightmare?!" he stuttered.

Sasha smiled. "Nope, it really happened. Ben, this is Skully Pettibone and Bug-A-Boo. I'm sure you can tell who's who." she joked.

The teenage boy whimpered when the huge, hairy monster he assumed was Bug-A-Boo walk towards him. Ben covered his eyes and waited for the worst to happen. His teeth chattered with fearful anticipation.

"Ahem." Bug-A-Boo coughed.

Ben cautiously opened his eyes. In Bug-A-Boo's hand was the Omnitrix. "I believe this is yours."

Staring at the device in the monster's hand. Ben's hand lifted, almost of its own accord. Taking a look at the reassuring smiles of his friends, Ben took the Omnitrix and put it back where it belonged, on his wrist.

Skully rubbed his chin bone. "Y'know, I think he needs more cheering up."

Ben looked afraid when he saw everyone smiling wide. He tried to get away, but Rook tackled him and pinned his arms down. Rachel and Sasha took one of Ben's feet and started tickling away.

"Ahahahahahahaha! No! S-Stop! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Hehehehehe!"

While the girls tickled his feet, Skully moved in and tickled Ben's underarms and Big-A-Boo lifted up Ben shirt and let his claws tickle his tummy silly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone laughed hearing Ben laugh. Seeing him laugh and smile was well worth the effort. And tickling does a good job of cheering Ben up too.

Finally, everyone stopped and the exhausted hero inhaled some needed breath.

Bug-A-Boo patted Ben's shoulder. "Tell you what, kid. Since you've done so much for our friends, we're gonna do you a favor."

* * *

The next evening, Mr. Baumann pulled into his driveway after a long day at work. He slipped on his pajamas and was going to freshen in the bathroom before bed. When he opened the door, he gasped. All the color drained from his face.

Skully Pettibone was standing in the bathroom holding a towel with a shower cap on his head. "Hey! You could knock before entering!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mr. Baumann stumbled backward and crawled away as the skeleton clacked closer. He got the movement back in his legs and hurried into his bedroom.

Just then, a huge, clawed hand came out from under Mr. Baumann's bed! Bug-A-Boo crawled out from the bed.

Mr. Baumann nearly broke his windows with all his screaming. He shot out of his room and busted right out the house. He ran to Ben's home and banged furiously on the door. "BEN! BEN! OPEN UP! BEEEEEEN!"

Ben opened the door. "What's with all the noise, Mr. Baumann?"

The old man grabbed his shirt. "You gotta help me! T-There are m-m-m-monsters in my house!"

"Monsters? Really?" Ben said incredulously. "Why are you asking me? I'll just make a mess of things-"

"I DON'T CARE! JUST GET THEM OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Panic-stricken, Mr. Baumann got on his knees and started begging. "Please, please, please! I'm sorry about what I said! Just get rid of them!"

Ben casually shrugged. "Alright." He strolled on over to Mr. Baumann's house. Once he was inside, Mr. Baumann saw a green light flash inside, a few screams of pain were heard.

Seconds later, Ben came out as Four Arms came dragging an unconscious Bug-A-Boo by his tail and carried Skully's bones in a pillowcase. "The bonehead is in here." Ben held up the pillowcase.

With the problem solved with hardly any damage done, now Mr. Baumann was feeling like a jerk. "Ben, I'm really sorry about what I said to you." he said sincerely. "I just lost my temper and it wasn't right of me to take it out in you. I hope you can forgive me."

Ben smiled. "I do, and I promise to be more careful in the future."

Mr. Baumann's didn't believe him, but he was happy that Ben was willing to try. So he smiled back. "That's good to hear. Well, good night, Ben."

* * *

Back at the mansion, Ben and Rachel were putting Skully back together. Skully giggled when he felt Ben's fingers between his ribcage. "Hehehey! Careful with those!"

Ben laughed. "A ticklish skeleton? Now I've seen everything." He placed Skully's ribs onto his spine while Rachel placed his head back on. "Thanks for the help, guys."

Skully winked. "Anytime, sport."

"You guys really scared the pants off of Baumann! He must have aged another five years!" Ben said.

"All in a night's work." Bug-A-Boo brushed his fingers against his chest.

"See? Mr. Baumann just needed a little reminder about how much you're needed." Sasha said.

"And I can't thank you guys enough." said Ben. "How about we head to Burger Shack? My treat."

Rachel licked her lips. "Mmm! Sounds great!"

"Count us in!" Bug-A-Boo roared.

"I'm starving!" Skully said. "Especially since I don't have a stomach."

As they all piled into Rook's van, Ben couldn't be more happy with himself for making such great friends.

Plus, he was eager to see what a living skeleton eating food would be like.


End file.
